Bicycle.



Patents ad Dec. l2, I899. E. F. MORSE.

BICYCLE.

(Application filed July 19, 1897.)

(No Model.)

NHED ra'rns PATENT FMCIEQ BICYCLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,979, dated December 12, 1899. Application filed July 19, 1897. Serial No. 645,149. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EVERETT F. MORSE, residing in 'Iru mansburg, county of Tompkins, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bicycles, and more particularly to that class of bicycles in which the propelling power is transmitted from the crank-axle to the rear wheel by means of a shaft and bevel-gears, and has for its object to furnish a light frame of such construction that it will resist the distortive forces incident to the action of the gears, and to provide such a firm support for the gears and shaft as will maintain them in perfect alinement under severe working strains.

To this end the invention consists in a novel combination of tension and compression members such as firmly support the bearings of the bevel-gear mechanism at the crank-axle and of a novel arrangement of compression and tension members connecting the support or casing of the bevel-gear mechanism at the crank-axle with the support or casing of the bevelgear mechanism at the rear wheel and in a manner such that each supports the other and that they act and react to maintain perfect alinement in both casings. I attain these objects by the construction shown in the accompanying drawing, which represents in side elevation a bicycle-frame embodying my improvements.

Referring to the drawing, m and 72 indicate the casings or supports for the bevel-gears at the crank-axle and rear-wheel axle, respectively, while CL and g are stays connecting and supporting the upper end of the head, saddle-post, and the rear fork, respectively.

f and e are two braces which diverge from their connection with the seat-post support and extend to connect with the casing m. c and d are also braces connected to said casing. They converge toward and connect jointly with the lower end of the head I). The object of the triangular arrangement of these braces is to assist in resisting the forces due to the action of the bevel-gears, which tend to turn the casing m in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon, e and f acting together for this purpose as tension and compression members, respectively, and d and c acting together, respectively, as tension and compression members for the same purpose.

2' is a tube connecting the casing in 'at'the crank-axle and the casing nfor the bevelgears at the rear wheel. Said tube also incloses the horizontal shaft which transmits the power to the rear wheel. This shaft may be arranged and supported in any of the usual ways now used on or adapted to the bevel-gear machines.

71. is a supplementary brace arranged, preferably, above the shaft-tube i and firmly connected with both casings m and n. This support might be arranged below the tube 11 and be equally operative in supporting the bearings for the bevel-gears.

While the tube 4 may be connected with the bearings "m and n by any of the usual methods employed in or adapted to bevelgear machines, h, f, c, c, and 61 preferably project into suitable sockets provided to receive them and are firmly brazed thereto by the usual methods. These connections may, however, be made in any other firm and secure manner.

The crank-axle and gearing in casings m and n are of the usual construction and mounted in bearings in said casings in the usual manner.

The power applied to the crank-axle in propelling the machine tends to rotate the easings m and n in the direction indicated by the arrows thereon. This is due to the fact that as the crank-axle gear rotates it tends to carry with it the casing m, and as the shaft connecting the gearing at the crank-axle with the gearing at the rear wheel rotates the pinion on its rear end tends to roll upward on the rear-wheel gear, and therefore tends to rotate the casing 01 about the axis of the rear wheel or in the direction of the arrow on said casing. The stay h acts as a tension member to restrain these distortive forces and prevent said casings from responding to this tendency to rotate in opposite directions. These casings being then held against rotation, as just stated, tend to approach one another; but this tendency is resisted by the tube t, which therefore acts as a compression member between them. Thus said distorting forces affecting casings m and n are by means of the stay h and the tube 1' made to operate against and to balance one another, thereby adding materially to the rigidity of the frame. These distortive forces are somewhat less at the casing 72 than at the casing m on account of the rear wheel being geared to revolve more rapidly than the crank-axle. In fact, these distortive forces are inversely proportional to the rate of revolutions of the two axles, and in order to make the distortive forces act equally on each end of the stays h and i, and thus relieve them of any consequent transverse strain, the stay h is connected to the casing 02 nearer to the stay 7; than it is at the casing m. he strain to which the stay h is subjected is very largely reduced by arranging it at as great a distance from tubet' as the construction of the machine will admit. Another stay might also be located directly below tube 2', and thereby relieve this tube from acting as a brace to either of the casings m or n.

The term tension member as herein used signifies a stay on which strains are exerted longitudinally thereofin directions away from one another, and the term compression member signifies a brace or stay on which forces or strains act toward one another 10ngitudinally thereof.

It is evident that the tubes or stays h and i might be connected by a web or otherwise, so as to appear like one brace or stay without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In addition to the force or strain tending to rotate the casings m and n, as above set forth, there is the torsional strain to which the horizontal shaft in tube 01 is subjected. This strain tends to turn the casing in about the axis of the tube 2' in a direction opposite to which the shaft rotates and at the same time this same torsional force tends to turn the casing 41 about the tube 11 in the same direction as the shaft revolves. The tendency of the casing m to rotate about the axis of the tube i is illustrated by supposing the shaft in said tube to be held against rotation. Then the effort to rotate the crank-axle gear would tend to make said gear roll under said shaft, and therefore to tip the top of easing m outwardly and the bottom thereof inwardly, which, if permitted, would make said casing rotate about the axis of tube i in a direction opposed to the rotation of the shaft in said tube when free to rotate. The effect of the rotating shaft in tube 2' upon the casing n is a tendency to tip the top of the casing inward and the bottom outward and to treat the rear wheel likewise, or, in other words, to carry everything around with it, since were the rear wheel prevented from turning and the pinion on the rear end of the shaft in tube 2' from climbing on its associate gear the bottom of casing 11 must be forced outwardly, and therefore the top inwardly. Thus the tendency of this torsional action is to turn the casings m and a in opposite directions about axes parallel to tube t', and these casings are prevented from yielding to this force by the tubes 72 and i rigidly connecting them.

By the term bevel-gear as used herein is meant a gear in which the connecting wheels or pinions have their axes in substantially the same plane, but at an angle to one another, the form of their coacting surfaces being disregarded.

The invention claimed is 1. In a chainless bicycle, the combination with a crank-axle and the beve1-gear casing thereat, of two tubes or stays arranged in the plane of the frame and having their lower ends attached to said casing near its opposite sides and converging into a connection with the seat-post, substantially as described.

2. In a chainless bicycle, the combination with a crank-axle and bevel-gear casing or support thereat, of two tubes or stays arranged in the plane of the frame and having their lower ends attached to the said casing near its opposite sides and converging toward each other and extending into a socket at the lower end of the head, substantially as described.

3. In the bicycle-frame, substantially as shown and described, the combination with the gear-casings m and n, of the stays e and f, connected to the periphery of the casingm, and converging into a connection with the seat-post support, the stays c and 01, connected to the periphery of easing m, and converging into a connection with the lower end of the head, the tube 1', connected to said casings m and n, in the line of their centers, and the brace 7L, connecting said casings above the tube 1', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4:. In a bicycle having a bevel-gear driving mechanism and a horizontal power-transmitting shaft to which one of each pair of bevelgears is connected, the combination with the bevelgears on the crank-shaft of a casing forming a part of the bicycle-frame and supporting the front end of said power-transmitting shaft, the bevel-gears at the rear wheel, a casing also forming a part ofthe bicycleframe and supporting the rear end of said power-transmitting shaft, a tube inclosing the power-transmitting shaft and rigidly connected to the said casings, and a stay rigidly attached at its ends tangentially to the periphery of the said casings, said tube and stay acting respectively as tension and compression members in resisting the tendency of said casings to rotate about their horizontal axes in response to the strain thrown upon them by the action of the bevel-gears.

EVERETT F. MORSE.

WVitnesses:

L. J. IVHEELER, J AS. K. WHEELER. 

